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Harry Ricketts
Harry Ricketts (born 1950) is a New Zealand poet, biographer, editor, anthologist, critic, academic, literary scholar and cricket writer. He has written biographies of Rudyard KiplingElizabeth Lowry, "The Unforgiving Minute – A life of Rudyard Kipling", Times Literary Supplement, Times, London, (5003), 1999, pp. 3–4 and of a dozen British First World War poets.Andrew Motion, Guardian (UK) online, Saturday 13 November 2010 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/13/strange-meetings-poets-war-review" \t "_blank" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/13/strange-meetings-poets-war-review; and Jonathan Beckman, New Statesman (UK) online, 18 November 2010. http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2010/11/war-poets-poetry-sassoon" \t "_blank" http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2010/11/war-poets-poetry-sassoon Life Youth and education Ricketts was born in London in 1950. His father, Jack (John) Ricketts, was a career officer in the British Army, serving in World War II and in Malaya and Hong Kong in the 1950s.Harry Ricketts, "Snapshots of my Father", in Sons of the Fathers, edited by Bill Sewell (North Shore City, N.Z., Tandem Press, 1997). Ricketts was brought up in London, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.Roger Robinson, Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 467. He was educated at a prep school in Kent and then at Wellington College, Berkshire.Harry Ricketts, How to Live Elsewhere (Four Winds Press, Wellington, 2004). Ricketts began writing poetry at school. From an early age, Ricketts developed an interest in cricket and opened the bowling for 2 years for the Wellington College First XI.Harry Ricketts, "Snapshots of my Father", in Sons of the Fathers, edited by Bill Sewell (North Shore City, N.Z., Tandem Press, 1997). After Wellington College, he studied English at Oxford University, earniing a B.A. with 1st Class Honours) and an M.Litt. on Kipling's short stories (1975).Robinson, p. 467. At Oxford he was arts editor of the student newspaper Cherwell and wrote for the OSAC magazine, interviewing writers like John Wain.Harry Ricketts, Just Then (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2012). Career Ricketts taught at the University of Hong Kong (1974-1977) and the University of Leicester (1978-1981) before moving to New Zealand.Harry Ricketts, How to Live Elsewhere (Four Winds Press, Wellington, 2004). In Hong Kong in the mid-1970s, he wrote short stories and blues songs. At Leicester, he knew poet and critic G.S. Fraser and became friends with poet Robert Wells.Harry Ricketts, "Three Poems for George Fraser" in Nothing to Declare (HeadworX Publishers, Wellington, 1998). In 1981, Ricketts took up a lectureship in the English Department at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and for many years has run a Modern Poetry course, combining British, American and New Zealand poets.Robinson, p. 467. During the 1980s, he started to publish academic work, such as an edition of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘lost’ New Zealand story "One Lady at Wairakei" (1983) and a valuable book of interviews with New Zealand poets, Talking about Ourselves (1986). This book introduced Ricketts to the New Zealand poetry scene, and he became friends with Wellington poets Louis Johnson and Lauris Edmond.Harry Ricketts, "Reading between the Lines" in Nothing to Declare (HeadworX Publishers, Wellington, 1998). He also became involved with the New Zealand Poetry Society, edited anthologies for them, was President for a time in the late 1980s, and at Victoria encouraged his students through the student publication Writings and later JAAM magazine in the 1990s, a Victoria Writer's Club magazine that became international.JAAM website In the 1990s he taught poetry workshops for the Continuing Education Centre at Victoria,Publisher's Preface in Nothing to Declare (HeadworX Publishers, Wellington, 1998). and more recently has taught non-fiction and fiction writing courses for the IIML (International Institute of Modern Letters) He has continued to publish poetry collections: Plunge (2001), Your Secret Life (2005) and Just Then (2012), the latter published by Victoria University Press. His poetry has been included in many anthologies of New Zealand poetry. Roger Robinson comments on his poetry that: "Ricketts’ best are either deftly satiric 'light verse' … or wry commentaries on the perplexities of love, marriage or parenthood."Robinson, p. 467. Aside from his own literary writing, Ricketts has been an anthologist since the 1990s. His work in this field includes How You Doing?: A Selection of New Zealand Comic and Satiric Verse (1998), with Hugh Roberts, and a 2-volume series of spiritual verse anthologies, co-edited with Paul Morris and Mike Grimshaw, before editing The Awa Book of New Zealand Sports Writing (2010). His sports anthology was one of the Best 100 Books of 2010 in the New Zealand Listener.16 "The 100 best books of 2010" in New Zealand Listener, 11 December 2010, Issue 3683. In 2010, with Paula Green, he co-authored a poetry primer, 99 Ways into New Zealand Poetry (2010). He has also contributed scholarly entries to the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, reviewed books for Radio New Zealand National, acted as a theatre critic for the New Zealand Listener (1998-2007), and co-edited review journal New Zealand Books ''since 1998.New Zealand Books website Writing A ''Wall Street Journal reviewer observed of The Unforgiving Minute that: 'of all the Kipling biographies, Harry Ricketts is the most balanced.'Additional Information for Harry Ricketts, New Zealand Book Council author profile The New Yorker reviewer in turn noted that 'Ricketts, a poet, is invaluable in analysing the subtleties and the modernist techniques that went into Kipling's popular, accessible work.'Additional Information for Harry Ricketts, New Zealand Book Council author profile Recognition His sports anthology, The Awa Book of New Zealand Sports Writing (2010), was included in the Best 100 Books of 2010 by the New Zealand Listener.16 "The 100 best books of 2010" in New Zealand Listener, 11 December 2010, Issue 3683. Publications Poetry *''Coming under Scrutiny''. Wellington: Original Books, 1989. *''Coming Here''. Palmerston North, NZ: Nagare Press, 1989 *''How Things Are'' (with Adrienne Jansen, Meg Campbell, * J.C. Sturm). Wellington: Whitireia, 1996. *''13 Ways''. Wellington: Pemmican Press, 1997. *''Nothing to Declare: Selected writings, 1977–1997''. Wellington: HeadworX, 1998. *''Plunge''. Wellington: Pemmican Press, 2001. *''Your Secret Life''. Wellington: HeadworX, 2005. *''Just Then''. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2012. Short fiction *''People Like Us: Sketches of Hong Kong''. Hong Kong: Eurasia Publishing, 1977. Non-fiction *''A Brief History of New Zealand Literature''. Wellington: Fawthorpe Garlick, 1996. *''The Unforgiving Minute: A life of Rudyard Kipling,'' London: Pimlico, 1999. **published in U.S. as Rudyard Kipling: a Life. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2000. *''Strange Meetings: The lives of the poets of the Great War''. London: Chatto & Windus, 2010. *''How to Live Elsewhere''. Wellington: Four Winds Press, 2004. *''How to Catch a Cricket Match''. Wellington: Awa Press, 2006. *''99 Ways into New Zealand Poetry''. Auckland: Random House / Vintage, 2010. Edited *Rudyard Kipling, One Lady at Wairakei''Wellinton: Mallinson Rendel, 1983. *''Talking About Ourselves: Twelve New Zealand poets in conversation with Harry Ricketts. Wellington: Mallinson Rendel, 1986. *''Worlds of Katherine Mansfield''. Palmerston North, NZ: Nagare Press, 1991 *''Under Review: A selection from New Zealand books, 1991–1996'' (edited with Bill Sewell & Lauris Edmond). Lincoln, NZ:, Lincoln University Press / Daphne Brasell Associates, 1997. *''How You Doing?: A selection of New Zealand comic and satiric verse'' (edited with Hugh Roberts). Lincoln, NZ:, Lincoln University Press / Daphne Brasell Associates, 1998. *Rudyard Kipling, The Long Trail: Selected poems. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2004. *''Spirit in a Strange Land: A selection of New Zealand spiritual verse'' (edited with Mike Grimshaw & Paul Morris). Auckland: Random House / Godwit, 2002. *''Spirit Abroad: A xecond selection of New Zealand spiritual verse'' (edited with Mike Grimshaw & Paul Morris). Auckland: Random House / Godwit, 2004. *''The Awa Book of New Zealand Sports Writing''. Wellington: Awa Press, 2010. *''Running Writing Robinson'' (Festschrift for Professor Roger Robinson; with David Carnegie, Paul Millar, & David Norton). Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2011. See also *List of New Zealand poets References External links ;Books *Harry Ricketts at Amazon.com *Harry Ricketts’ publication record at Department of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington ;About *Harry Ricketts at HeadworX *Ricketts, Harry at the New Zealand Book Council *Ingrid Horrocks’ launch speech for Harry Ricketts' Just Then (2012) Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:New Zealand poets Category:New Zealand male poets Category:New Zealand biographers Category:Male biographers Category:Writers from London Category:English emigrants to New Zealand Category:Victoria University of Wellington faculty Category:People from London Category:21st-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:20th-century poets